Medical Marijuana Awaits Senate Vote

Posted:
Friday, April 26, 2013 3:21 PM EDT

Springfield - By a small margin, last week the Illinois House passed a bill that would legalize medical marijuana. The bill's sponsor, Skokie Democrat Lou Lang, called it the premier medical marijuana bill in the country.

However, some believe it will only do more harm than good.

Before the vote, Lang told members of the house that,"this bill is the most controlled and highly regulated bill ever drafted, ever written, in the United States of America."

With 62 yes votes, the house said yes to medical marijuana, sending it to the Senate for a vote.

While it did pass the house, not everyone is for it.

"The law enforcement is against it for some practical reasons," Highland Republican Senator Kyle McCarter told WAND News.

Sangamon County's top two officers have said they're not in favor of such bill passing in Illinois.

"I'm against liberating of the laws of marijuana. It's just a slippery slope I believe. I don't know why you have to smoke something to become well," said Sangamon County Sheriff Neil Williamson.

Sangamon County Under sheriff Jack Campbell added,"we don't need one more item out there on the streets that can be problematic for us. If we can be guaranteed that only those people would have it, and use it correctly, I would not have a problem with it at all."

The bill's sponsor in the Senate has said they've worked hard to make sure medical marijuana will keep the substance in the right hands.

"We took those concerns into account as we drafted the bill. It's a tighter control over the growing of the substance and the distribution of it to a patient," said Alton Democratic Senator William Haine.

Those patients are hoping that the Illinois Senate will say yes when they return in two weeks. And with the senate's history of passing other medical marijuana bills, history could be made when they return.